RSS Feed
Twitter
June 15th, 2010 
mrudula 
Isolating a gene that allows a type of fern to tolerate high levels of arsenic, Purdue University researchers hope to use the finding to create plants that can clean up soils and waters contaminated by the toxic metal.The fern Pteris vittata can tolerate 100 to 1,000 times more arsenic than other plants. Jody Banks, a professor of botany and plant pathology, and David Salt, a professor of horticulture, uncovered what may have been an evolutionary genetic event that creates an arsenic pump of sorts in the fern.
“It actually sucks the arsenic out of the soil and puts it in the fronds,” Banks said. “It’s the only multi-cellular organism that can do this.”
Without a genome sequenced for Pteris vittata, Banks and Salt used a method of gene identification called yeast functional complementation. They combined thousands of different Pteris vittata genes into thousands of yeast cells that were missing a gene that makes them tolerant to arsenic.
The Junior and Leaving Cert exams begin today (June 9th), amid a caution from the Minister for Education and Skills.
If your child is bitten by the online bug, it could be the starting point for a modern approach to learning. With the fatigue factor rising due to lengthy commutes and multiple subjects, students are gradually discarding traditional ‘brick and mortar’ tutorials.
As part of the 1Goal global campaign coinciding with the FIFA Football World Cup 2010, hundreds of social activists, educationists, students and sportspersons have started a signature drive in Orissa, seeking education for all, a campaigner said Tuesday.
Numerous researchers in MSU’s College of Education have endorsed a set of high school graduation standards approved last week that proponents said will better prepare students for college.
